Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio on Wednesday urged Italians to keep accepting severe restrictions on families and businesses aimed at containing the country's dramatic coronavirus outbreak.
"We can't ignore so many deaths. It is our (the government's) task to take action to safeguard the country," Di Maio tweeted.
"If we lower our guard now, we risk going back to square one. We can't allow this," the tweet added.
The government said this week that industry, the construction sector and parts of the retail sector would be allowed to re-start activities in May in a partial easing of the drastic national lockdown imposed last month.
However, Italy's schools will stay closed until at least September and limitations on citizens' freedom of movement will continue, the government said.
Covid-19 has killed a total 27,682 people in Italy since January - the highest death-toll in the world after the United States. The highly contagious respiratory disease has infected 203,591 people in Italy - the third highest global tally behind the US and Spain.
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